Heavy contact at Skyline ends day at Bathurst 12 Hour for Grove Racing, Grant Denyer's hopes ends in third hour

Stephen Grove was behind the wheel of the Porsche 911 GT3 when he spun out at the top of Mount Panorama shortly after the race entered its third hour.

After the car initially contacted the inside wall it then reversed into the outside wall at the top of the Esses, where it sustained the bulk of its damage.

That damage left the car stranded in the middle of the road and forced the safety car to make its first appearance since it got the race underway at 5.45am.

The Grove garage claimed that contact was made by the #222 Scott Taylor Motorsport entry of Alex Davison on the approach to Skyline.

Davison denied the team's claim that he contacted their Porsche.

"There was no contact. He just lost it by himself," Davison said.

"I just happened to be close behind him."

Co-incidentally the same two cars were involved in an incident during the race's first hour.

Brenton Grove made contact with the right rear of Davison's Mercedes on turn two, forcing the latter into a slide, but the STM driver made an impressive save to keep the car out of danger.

Skyline has become a cursed stretch of tarmac for the Grove Racing team, who met a similar fate in the 2022 edition of the Bathurst 12 Hour.

The Grove Racing entry was the second car in Sunday's race to be forced out due to an accident.

Christopher Haase's day came to an end inside the first hour when his Audi Sport entry was sent into the turn two wall by Duvashen Padayachee.

Haase was able to bring the car back around the track - avoiding the need for a safety car - but after assessing the damage his team withdrew from the race.

When racing resumed following the Grove Racing crash Adrian Deitz's Wall Racing Lamborghini entry became the next car to strike trouble when he contacted the wall at the Cutting.

Perthville's Grant Denyer could only watch on as co-driver Deitz made solid contact with the wall on the exit of the turn, sustaining damage to the front right of the car.

Deitz brought the car back out onto the track in the fourth hour but found himself in another incident when he lost control at the Chase, suffering rear right damage when he slid off the outside of the turn.

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